ABSTRACT
Carl Thornfeldt Episciences, Inc., Boise, and CT Derm, Fruitland, Idaho, and Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, Oregon, U.S.A.
BACKGROUND
Botanicals used for medicinal, flavoring, or fragrances are known as herbs (1,2). The
guiding principle of herbal medicine is the naturally occurring mixture of active compounds
in plants is more effective and safer than individual molecules and man-made combinations
of synthetic molecules. The natural composition is the comminuted, powdered, or galenic
extracts of the whole or specific anatomic parts of the plant. Botanical medicinals are
focused more on treatment of signs and symptoms of disease while improving total “body
condition” than reversing the disease etiology.
